Via National Geographic.com: Ebola in Uganda: Why Can't We Cure It? Where Does It Hide? Click through for the full report and several links. Excerpt:
The latest Ebola occurrence is thought to have started in Uganda's western Kibaale District about three weeks ago, but was confirmed only last Friday.
The outbreak initially went undetected, because patients did not show typical Ebola symptoms, such as hemorrhaging, and because they had other illnesses, such as malaria, which complicated diagnosis, according to Ugandan officials.
Among the 14 dead are a medical clinic officer and her four-month-old baby, as well as 9 members from a single family. A dozen others suspected to be infected have been admitted to the local hospital, according to the Washington Post.
This is not the first time Ebola has struck Uganda: In 2007 an outbreak killed 42 people, and an epidemic in 2000 killed more than 200.
The virus is still so mysterious that no one knows how it originated, in which species it hides out between epidemics, or how to treat it. There's also a lack of understanding of how Ebola is transmitted, as Uganda's president demonstrated in a national address Monday.
"We discourage the shaking of hands, because that can cause contact through sweat which can cause problems ... and avoid promiscuity, because these sicknesses can also be transmitted through sex," Yoweri Museveni said in the address.
But the idea that Ebola can be spread by shaking hands—via sweat—is a myth, according to Joseph Fair, vice president of Metabiota, a San Francisco-based company that studies Ebola and other pathogens.
"Ebola is not currently known or thought to be transmitted by perspiration," Fair said. Ebola is transmitted by bodily fluids.
Overall, "being more aware of your surroundings and mindful of your contacts is always recommended if you live in the area of an outbreak."
Incredibly Lethal Virus
First reported in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ebola is one of the most contagious known viruses. It's also incredibly lethal, killing up to 90 percent of its victims through widespread internal—and sometimes external—bleeding.
Initial symptoms can appear seemingly benign, and include vomiting, red eyes, stomach pains, and hiccups. (Take an infectious diseases quiz.)
Eventually the virus causes capillaries—tiny, branching blood vessels throughout the body—to leak, Fair explained.
"You essentially lose the junctures between your cell walls, so your capillaries are leaking. Once that happens, you lose blood pressure and you essentially die of shock ... It's an extremely uncomfortable death."
